Literary notes about Slowly (AI summary)
The adverb "slowly" in literature often serves to underscore a sense of measured progression, deliberate change, or introspection. Authors deploy it to guide readers through a scene with an unhurried focus, be it in the languid movement of a character—as when a bat flitted slowly by in a moment of eerie calm [1] or a monarch’s words ushered in the break of a new day [2]—or in the careful, almost ritualistic unfolding of actions, such as gradually opening one’s eyes to a new reality [3] or a character slowly prostrating themselves [4]. In narrative passages, its use can evoke both physical motion and the gradual evolution of moods or events, from the slow subsiding of chaos after a celebration [5] to the creeping advancement of time in a suspenseful moment [6]. In dialogue, it may even hint at reluctance or emphasis, lending a weighty deliberateness to each slowly chosen word [7]. Across these varied examples, “slowly” functions as a subtle yet powerful tool, inviting readers to dwell on each moment as it unfurls.
- Profound Darkness again surrounded him, and the silence of night was only broken by the whirring Bat, as She flitted slowly by him.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. Lewis - While thus the high-souled monarch spoke To the stern queen, the Morning broke, And holy night had slowly fled, With moon and stars engarlanded.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki - At that moment, Marius slowly opened his eyes, and his glance, still dimmed by lethargic wonder, rested on M. Gillenormand.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - He came to her, fell at her knees, and slowly prostrating himself, he took the tip of her foot which peeped out from beneath her robe, and kissed it.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - At last, as the cheering and hammering slowly subsided, a voice could be made out saying, "Well, I do not propose to detain you much longer"—(great
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - The minutes passed very slowly: fifteen were counted before the library-door again opened.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - "I prefer not to," he respectfully and slowly said, and mildly disappeared.
— from Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street by Herman Melville